Shepherding God's People: A Guide to Faithful and Fruitful Pastoral Ministry

by Siang-Yang Tan, John Ortberg (Foreword)

This comprehensive textbook on pastoral ministry for pastors, church leaders, and students articulates a biblical model for shepherding God's people. Written by a leading psychologist and seminary professor who has served as a pastor for more than two decades, the book covers twelve major areas of pastoral ministry, highlights the essential work of the Holy Spirit, and focuses on the personal and family life of the pastor. It includes cross-cultural perspectives of special interest in our diverse world and a foreword by John Ortberg.

Genres: Leadership

268 pages, Paperback

Published July 16, 2019

About the author

Siang-Yang Tan is director of the doctor of psychology program in the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. His Ph.D. is from McGill University.

-from the back cover of Coping with Depression (1995)

Reviews

[George P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Siang-Yang Tan is professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and senior pastor of First Evangelical Church in nearby Glendale. In Shepherding God’s People, he examines “biblical and theological foundations for pastoral ministry” (Part 1) and “areas of pastoral ministry” (Part 2). The author himself describes the book this way in the Preface:

"The book presents a biblical perspective on pastoral and church ministry that emphasizes faithfulness and fruitfulness in Christ (John 15:5), through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; Eph. 5:18; 6:10–18), made perfect in weakness, brokenness, and humility (2 Cor. 12:9–10) rather than in success or excellence of the wrong kind … . Each chapter includes a substantial review of the literature available on the topic as well as my own biblical, theological, psychological, cultural, and personal reflections."

Baker Academic published the book, and I imagine its intended readers are seminarians preparing for ministry. Although it is well, clearly, and simply written, it at times feels like an introductory survey rather than a how-to guide. Being nearly 25 years out of seminary — I attended Fuller but did not have Dr. Tan as a professor — I found this off-putting at first.

But as I kept reading, I realized that I was benefitting from the author’s extensive reading of the relevant literature, especially as it was focused through the lens of his own pastoral ministry. I came to regard the book as the equivalent of a refresher course on the theology and practice of pastoral ministry. An added bonus is that each chapter includes an extensive list of recommended readings. You can use the book as an introduction to best practices and the recommended readings as a guide to what you should read next, should a specific topic interest you.

As a Pentecostal minister, I appreciated Chapter 2 especially. It is titled, “The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit as Crucial and Essential for Pastoral Ministry.” Though Dr. Tan does not write from a classical Pentecostal perspective, this chapter reminded me of the breadth of the Holy Spirit’s work as well as the many points in common between Pentecostal and evangelical theologies of the Spirit.

Book Reviewed
Siang-Yang Tan, Shepherding God’s People: A Guide to Faithful and Fruitful Pastoral Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019).

P.S. If you like my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.

P.P.S. I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine.com. It is posted here by permission.

[Christian Wermeskerch · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing that I appreciated from this book – from even as early as the Table of Contents! – was its focus on both the glamorous and not as pretty aspects of pastoral ministry. A few chapters focused on the stuff everyone writes and thinks about: corporate worship, preaching, and discipleship, to name a few. But this book goes further than those alone: we also read about church boards, budgets, weddings, and even retiring. This all-of-pastoral-life of a pastor is a breath of fresh air. In Seminary, books on pastoral ministry were either “Essentially a Book on Preaching” or “Bible Study with the Word Pastor in the Title”. This is a hands on approach that acknowledges the wide range of pastoral ministry and work.

See more of my review at chriswerms .wordpress .com

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an enormous amount of material in this book on pastoral life and ministry. The strength of the book is that it can be a place to start for those wishing to study particular areas of pastoral ministry. The reader will find not only the author's own reflections but a wide range of supplementary material. The weakness of this book is that it covers so many resources that there is not a coherent presntation of pastoral life and ministry that hangs togther as a whole. For that, readers would need to look elsewhere. But this is certainly a worthy addition to a pasor's library and reading.

[Ricky Schille · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a bibliography and general guideline on every facet of pastoral ministry, rather than an explanation for how to do pastoral ministry.

[Conrade Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

People have often called the pastoral vocation as a special kind of calling. Some even put it as a "higher calling." Some of my friends even joke about the reason for such a "higher calling" (aka high pressure workload and expectations with low or no renumeration). Whatever it is, shepherding a community of people is no easy feat. Working with machines, computers, and systems is far easier than working with people. Thankfully, there have been many who had entered the pastoral vocation and come out with much gratitude. At the same time, there are also rising concerns about the increasing number of people quitting the pastoral vocation. This is how author, professor, pastor, and clinical psychologist, Siang-Yang Tan begins the book. He notes that in a recent conference in Southern California, 90 percent of the pastors had "experienced fatigue and had thoughts of quitting ministry." There is a need to help one be faithful in the ministry and fruitful during the practice of pastoral ministry. This book aims at providing a biblical perspective of the church, on pastoral ministry, and on how to shepherd God's people.


Part One of the book looks at the biblical and theological aspects of pastoral ministry based on five key paradigms:

That the Great Commission is about discipling nations instead of just individuals;
The atonement means redemption for marketplace instead of individuals;
The ministry of the Church is about the people of God being ministers together, not just the individual;
Jesus is the One who builds the Church, and not just a few individuals;
The measurement of fruitfulness is four-dimensional; namely spiritual, relational, motivational, and material.

The theological component is impressive, with Tan covering the doctrines of Church (Ecclesiology), Holy Spirit (Pneumatology), Christology, Spirituality, Spiritual Disciplines, Self-care regimens, soulcare, Sabbath, and ways to help one maintain Christ-centered living, etc. Part Two goes into the practice of different areas of pastoral ministry. He begins with the "Preaching and Teaching" aspect, as a primary and most important calling of the pastor. True preaching is the "most urgent need in the Church." While preaching and teaching are not synonymous, they are intertwined and complements each other. Tan goes into the steps and processes of preparing a sermon. I appreciate the way he highlights the need for preaching of messages related to "mental health and mental illness." This is not often talked about. Perhaps, with churches having messages to reach out in such a way would reduce the amount of suicidal thoughts among members of the congregation. There is "Corporate Worship" which is essentially what Sundays are all about. Giving us the steps of preparing a worship service, Tan also lists "six major implications for the practice of worship." The area of "Intentional Disciplemaking and Spiritual Formation" is another major need for the Church. He brings together different schools of thought and practice for the benefit of the reader. In "Evangelism, Missions, and Social Concern," he reminds us that the application of the Great Commission is essentially about bringing transformative love to our neighbours. He shares several good practical examples of evangelism that could be easily applied. Other areas include leadership, mentoring, pastoral care, counseling, weddings, funerals, Church boards relations, small groups, integrity, ethics, leaving and retiring. There are so many applications that one could pretty much treat this book as a pastoral reference handbook.

My Thoughts
Wow. I wish I had such a resource when I was starting up as a pastor. I am amazed that he could pack so much information within 300 pages. Not only are there steps and tips about specific areas of ministry, Tan provides ample scholarship and resources to aid us through. He does the heavy lifting on our behalf so that the busy pastor could just use this resource as a springboard to deeper research. Thank you Siang-Yang Tan for this gift of collection of wise thoughts and practical knowledge. I appreciate the gentle reminder in his epilogue not to become self-driven or self-sufficient. Books alone may help us do some equipping. However, the ministry of the Church needs to be through the Church and with the Church. That means no lone-ranger pastors. At the same time, Tan assures us that failures and negative feedback are to be expected. That is why pastors need to have an adequate sense of inner security found only in Christ. Pastoral vocation is about serving ordinary people through ordinary means, empowered by the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit.

Some books are written by professors from a mostly academic angle. Some are written by practitioners soaked in decades of pastoral experience. Still there are those written by professionals with rich expertise in public settings. What is rare is to have one written by a pastor, a professor, a practitioner, and a passionate believer all rolled into one. Siang-Yang Tan is that guy who possesses all of the above qualities. I recommend this book for all pastors, especially those who are just starting out on the journey of pastoral ministry.

Siang-Yang Tan (PhD, McGill University) is professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and senior pastor of First Evangelical Church Glendale in Glendale, California. He is a popular speaker and has written numerous books, including Counseling and Psychotherapy and Full Service: Moving from Self-Serve Christianity to Total Servanthood.

Rating: 5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.